London Borough of Croydon (23 019 545)

Category : Other Categories > Commercial and contracts

Decision : Upheld

Decision date : 20 Aug 2024

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Mr B complained that the Council had failed to take effective action to stop a resident blocking access to his garage. It had also failed to respond to his communications about the problems or refund the garage rent despite promising to do so. We have found fault in the Council’s actions causing Mr B an injustice. The Council has taken action to stop the anti-social behaviour, to refund the past rent to Mr B and freeze ongoing payments. It has also agreed to apologise to him, make a symbolic payment of £300 and improve its record-keeping for the future

The complaint

  1. Mr B complained that the London Borough of Croydon (the Council) failed to take effective action to stop a resident blocking access to his garage for over a year. It also failed to respond to his communications for many months, failed to deal with the issue as a complaint despite promising to do so and denied receiving any communication at all from Mr B. The resident continues to block access to the garage and verbally abuse him. Mr B is unable to use the garage. This has caused him significant and ongoing distress and inconvenience.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
  2. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I have considered the complaint and the documents provided by the complainant, made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided. Mr B and the organisation had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

2022

  1. Mr B rents a garage from the Council. In June 2022 he complained that he couldn’t use the garage due to another resident blocking the forecourt and the resident had been abusive when Mr B had asked them to move the car. In July 2022 the Council wrote to a number of residents in the area warning them not to block access to the garages.
  2. Mr B complained of problems again in October 2022. The Council said in November 2022 it was taking action against the alleged perpetrator. In December 2022 it responded to Mr B’s complaint at stage two of its complaints procedure, directed him to the police about the abuse and made a partial refund of the garage rent for June, October and November 2022.

2023

  1. Mr B complained to the Council again in June 2023 that the problems had started again with a racist element. The Council acknowledged the complaint and said it had passed the matter onto a new officer as the previous one had left.
  2. The officer visited the site but said the garage had not been blocked. They asked for details of when Mr B had not been able to use the garage so the officer could organise a refund. In July 2023 the Council offered Mr B an alternative garage but it was too far away from his home address.
  3. In August 2023 the Council said it had written to the resident, it would carry out an inspection the following week and consider other steps to take such a community protection notice or anti-social behaviour (ASB) contract. On 7 August 2023 the Council confirmed it had sent a final warning letter to the resident and would monitor the situation for four weeks. On 16 August 2023 Mr B confirmed he now had access to his garage and he asked about the refund. He chased this on two occasions and on 23 August 2023 the Council said it had referred the matter to the relevant department who would contact Mr B.
  4. Mr B did not contact the Council again until 4 October 2023 when he complained of problems again and chased the refund issue. The Council replied saying it had referred the parking matter to a manager and logged a formal complaint. Mr B provide details of the refund he was requesting and chased the Council on two more occasions. The Council sent a stage one complaint on 16 November 2023 asking Mr B if the refund had been resolved and directing him to the lettings department regarding the blocked garage.
  5. On 27 November 2023 he complained this was the fourth time he had not been able to access his garage for a prolonged period. The Council had not responded to him or made a refund. He had paid £469 over the previous seven months for a garage he could not use.
  6. Mr B complained again in December 2023 and March 2024 then complained to us. In May 2024 the Council said it did not have any record of a complaint from Mr B or any records of actions. Mr B confirmed the problems with garage access were continuing.
  7. In response to my enquiries the Council has contacted Mr B to ask him if he is still experiencing ASB with access to his garage. It has also taken steps to action a full refund of his rent and freeze his current rent charges.
  8. If the problem is ongoing and the Council obtains photographic evidence, it will take action against the alleged perpetrator, including the possibility of a notice seeking possession for their home and garage. It has also acknowledged a lack of record-keeping and inadequate action respect of the ASB and will reopen an ASB case.

Analysis

  1. The Council took effective action in 2022 to resolve the ASB. It responded promptly in June 2023 to address the same problem. It achieved a partial success as Mr B did not experience problems from mid-August until the beginning of October 2023. However, from this point the Council was at fault:
    • it failed to investigate the ASB or take any further action to prevent the problem;
    • it failed to refund any of the garage rent for the lack of use of the garage between June and August 2023 or since the beginning of October 2023; and
    • it failed to respond to Mr B’s complaint properly, respond to any of his communication after November 2023 or keep proper records of his contact.
  2. Mr B has been caused significant distress and frustration, not being able to use his garage for long periods and much time and trouble in chasing up the matter with the Council. I welcome the Council’s prompt acceptance of the fault and the action already taken to put matters right.

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Agreed action

  1. In recognition of the injustice cause to Mr B I recommended the Council within one month of the date of my final decision:
    • confirms to Mr B the action it has taken to resolve the ASB and if the problem is ongoing, the planned action for the future with timescales;
    • refunds him the garage rent for the periods from June to August 2023 and October 2023 to the present and ensures ongoing rent payments are frozen until the matter is resolved;
    • apologises to Mr B in line with our guidance on making an effective apology and pays him £300; and
    • reviews how its tenancy, parking and garage services keep records of customer contact and how they are monitored to ensure responses/action are done.
  2. The Council has already taken action to address the ASB and refunded the garage rent, so a rent freeze is unnecessary. It will monitor the situation and take immediate action if the problems recur. It has agreed to my other recommendations and should provide us with evidence it has complied with them.

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Final decision

  1. I consider this is a proportionate way of putting right the injustice caused to Mr B and I have completed my investigation on this basis.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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